


Twelve Days of Phan

by Azure (Fancy_Ravenclaw)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M, Sickening Fluff, Twelve Days of Phan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-14 20:56:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 7,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13015962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fancy_Ravenclaw/pseuds/Azure
Summary: A Christmas themed drabble every day until Christmas.





	1. Candles

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try my best to upload every day! Bear with me.

Dan took off his woolly hat when he walked into the heated store. There was a Christmas tree right in front of the entrance, where a girl from the food bank sat and handed people flyers with lists of things to buy to donate to the food bank. Dan took one when before he walked through the security ports. He knew where to go as he was only coming in for one thing, but after looking at the flyer he made a quick detour past the toothbrushes before going to where he needed to be.

There was an entire isle dedicated to candles, and all the Christmas ones were set out on a table in the middle. He stuffed the toothbrushes in his coat pocket and started picking up random candles and smelling them. They all smelled like Christmas in a different way, and there was one that even smelled a bit like snow.

A voice awoke him from his thought just as he was putting a chocolate scented candle up to his nose. “The gingerbread ones are the best.”

He looked up to find a boy maybe a few years older than himself standing on the other end of the table with a woolly hat on that resembled his own. “Where are the gingerbread ones?”

The stranger picked up a candle and offered it to him.

It did smell good, Dan had to agree. He was more of a simple scents kind of person himself, but his mother had specifically asked for ‘Christmas-y scented candles’ and Dan, being the good son that he was, tried the best he could. “But will my mother like these?” He asked.

The boy laughed and responded, “My mum likes them, if that helps. Her favourite is ‘peace on earth’ though, but I have no idea what that’s supposed to smell like. Bit too abstract for me.”

“I’m all about the easy and abstract scenting candles. I don’t know what to do with all these things genuinely smelling like the thing they’re advertising.”

“Have you tried the pine ones? Maybe you like those. They’re a bit simpler.”

“Are you calling me simple?”

“I think you called yourself simple.” He offered Dan a green candle.

Dan smelled it and nodded, “See this is the kind of candle I like. I might get this one for myself. But my mum wanted a really Christmas-y one so maybe she’ll want the gingerbread.”

“What about Christmas pudding?”

“Excuse me?”

“This one.” The boy laughed and handed him a vaguely brownish candle.

“It does smell like Christmas pudding!” Dan exclaimed after smelling it. “How do they do that?” He smelled it again and then nodded resolutely. “This is the one. Or the gingerbread one. No, I’m taking them both. I’m a good son, getting my mum two candles.”

“The best son.”

“Thank you for helping me, kind stranger.”

“I’m Phil.”

“Sh, you’re ruining the Christmas miracle.”

Phil laughed, “Sorry. Forget that, I’m an elf.”

“An elf called Phil? I always imagined they’d have more exotic names.”

“Phil is my undercover name.”

“Alright, ‘Phil’, or whatever your real name is. How about you give me your phone number and I’ll text you what my mum thought of the candles. If you were really an elf you’d know exactly what she’d like.”

“Oh, I do.” Phil took his phone from his pocket and read Dan his phone number. “I’m so confident she’ll like them I’m even willing to meet with you for coffee so you can tell me her reaction face to face.”

“That’s courageous. Alright. You free December 27?”

“You bet. I’ll see you at the Starbucks around the corner, with a Christmas drink.”

“Three o’clock?”

“See you there, wait, what’s your name?”

“I can’t tell you, that’s classified as I am an elf too.” He winked. “But you can call me Dan.”

“Alright, Dan, if she likes the candles, you buy me coffee. If she doesn’t like them, coffee’s on me.”

“The deal is on, elf.”


	2. Ice skating

Dan had never ice-skated before. 

He was well over six feet tall and generally he felt that it was hard enough to keep his balance with both feet planted firmly on the ground, so standing on two thin slices of metal on slippery ice just seemed like an accident waiting to happen. But when the boy you like invites you on an ice-skating date, you go. So he did.

Phil was just putting his left foot in a rented white skate when Dan sat down next to him. When they greeted each other their words came out in little clouds of white condensation, signalling that it was proper freezing. Dan struggled to bind his skates under with his gloved hands. “Have you skated before?” He asked.

Phil nodded. “I used to go every Winter with some friends. Sometimes on natural ice even.”

The past few years Winter hadn’t been nearly cold enough to skate on lakes, so they had come to an indoor ice rink. Dan was glad of this, as this ice was probably less prone to cracking and dropping him into multiple feet of freezing cold water at any given moment. 

Phil got to his feet effortlessly, as if he wasn’t standing on two tiny pieces of metal. “I am not graceful.” Dan warned before he got up too. Phil held onto his arm even though that would probably do nothing if Dan did lose his footing. The ice rink was five steps away, but they were the longest five steps of Dan’s life. He had no idea how Phil managed to look so confident and steady as he stepped onto the ice while Dan was holding on to the metal fencing around the ring for dear life. If he couldn’t even hold his balance on solid floor, how was he going to do it on the ice? 

“Come on!” Phil called. He did a pirouette, as if to taunt Dan even more, and then skated back to take Dan’s hand. Dan couldn’t pass up an opportunity to hold Phil’s hand, so he took it and let himself be pulled onto the ice. “Oh my god, I am literally going to die.”

“You’re fine. Just move normally.”

“Move normally? I’m standing on two thin metal blades on a slippery surface, what could go wrong?”

“Plenty.” Phil admitted. “But don’t think about that.” He showed Dan how to move his feet, and bit by bit Dan moved forward.

“At this rate we’ll have completed a lap by next Winter.” He commented. 

“Go faster then! I’ll let you go, okay?” 

Dan proceeded to attempt to move his legs a bit faster and was rewarded by a smack in the face from the ice. Phil was on him in a second to pull him back up, but getting up when you’ve fallen down on ice is harder than getting up on a trampoline when others are still jumping. Dan felt like a baby giraffe as he struggled to get back to his feet. Eventually he resorted to dragging himself back upright by the fence. 

A helpful employee of the ice rink offered Dan a chair, and although he was a bit embarrassed he took it. He couldn’t see anyone else over the age of ten skating with a chair anywhere around him, but it was better than just falling on his face multiple times. 

They couldn’t hold hands like this, as Dan had to keep both hands gripping onto the chair tightly. Phil stayed close to him though, guiding him with a gentle hand on his back. 

After an hour of trying, Dan felt ready to ditch the chair and he managed to complete a lap without it. It wasn’t fast, but at least he didn’t fall. Phil started out holding his hand but halfway through the lap he let go and started skating in circles around Dan.

“You did it!” 

“Yeah, I guess so.” Dan grinned. 

They were at the end of the lap and stepped off the ice. Dan couldn’t wait to take his skates off, but his fingers were stiff from the cold and he had a hard time undoing the laces. At least Phil seemed to struggle with this just as much. 

They brought their skates back to the rental place, where Phil spotted a sign that said ‘hot chocolate! 2 pounds!’ next to the cafeteria. He took Dan’s hand and started pulling him in that direction. Dan gladly came along, happy enough to be able to hold Phil’s hand without being scared of dragging him down to the floor with him.


	3. Christmas Market

The market was getting more crowded by the time they walked onto the grounds. If they’d come during the day they’d have had to deal with less crowds, but Christmas markets were meant to be enjoyed in the soft twilight of the early evening. The little stalls just looked that bit extra appealing when lighted by torches and candles. Dan had put aside thirty pounds for them to blow on dumb stuff, knowing Phil would buy all the cute decorations if he was let loose. 

They walked hand in hand, strolling past the stalls, every one cuter than the last, lingered around the ones with free food samples and the ones with scented candles, and eventually ended up with two candles and a small wreath (even though they didn’t really have a place to put the latter). Dan had a candle in each hand, while Phil held the wreath. 

A larger stall emitted music, and they were naturally drawn to it. It turned out to have a small stage in it, with three people with instruments and one young woman sat on a barstool, singing without a microphone. She didn’t need one, anyway. Her voice projected itself across the fields and drew in crowds of people to listen to her. 

Dan and Phil stood to listen as she started on a Christmas love song. Dan shoved one of the candles into his coat pocket just so he could hold his boyfriend’s hand. Phil looked up at him and smiled. He looked even more beautiful than usual with the warm lighting from the fireplaces around them projecting soft shadows onto his face. 

Dan couldn’t help himself. He leaned up to kiss him, pulling his free hand out of Phil’s hold to put it on his cheek. He felt Phil smile into their kiss as he pulled him in closer.


	4. Wrapping Paper

“Woah, that’s a lot of wrapping paper you’ve got there, neighbour.” 

Dan looked up to find Phil, the guy from next door, pausing with a key in his hand.

“Well, I’m going to be wasting half of it.”

“On what?”

“My bad wrapping skills.”

Phil laughed heartily, the sound echoing through the empty corridor. “Are you that much of a mess?”

“Listen, I don’t know who decided we should all be putting colourful paper around gifts, but it’s dumb and way too much work.”

“Do you need help?”

This surprised Dan. Sure, him and Phil were on a friendly basis, as far as neighbours went, but they’d never done more than have a chat about the weather when they ran into each other in the lift. “I mean, are you offering?”

“Sure. Don’t want to toot my own horn here, but I’ve wrapped quite a few presents in my day and I’m pretty skilled.”

“In that case, I gracefully accept your offer. Please help me.”

“Alright then.” Phil put his keys back in his pocket and followed Dan into his apartment. 

“Sorry about the mess.” Dan said, shoving all the crap he had on his kitchen table to one side. On the list of things Dan wasn’t good at, wrapping presents was probably number one, but keeping his apartment tidy was definitely up there. 

“It’s fine.” Phil responded. He hung his coat over one of the chairs and sank down on it. “Where are the presents that need wrapping? Hit me.”

“Well, get ready.” From all over the lounge Dan produced presents that he deposited onto the table in front of Phil, who was growing increasingly impressed.

“You might not be good at wrapping, but you appear to be excellent at Christmas shopping.”

“Not much use when you can’t make them look pretty under the tree.”

“Well, I’m terrible at Christmas shopping and let me tell you, it’s pretty useless to be a master gift wrapper when you haven’t got any gifts to wrap.”

Dan laughed, “We should have been teamworking this whole Christmas thing all along.”

While Phil got to work, Dan made himself useful by putting on the kettle and getting them both some tea. 

Phil had not oversold himself, it turned out. The presents looked ten times better than Dan’s best effort could ever accomplish and he was sure his family would be pleasantly surprised. “Can you make bows?” Phil asked.

“Bows?”

“Yeah, you know. With these ribbons?” Phil held them up for Dan to see.

“Right. Yeah, I can tie a knot with some nice loops on, if that’s what you mean.”

“Good enough for me.”

They sat and worked quietly for a few minutes until Dan asked, “Have you already wrapped your own presents?”

“The ones that I’ve bought, yes.” Phil responded evasively.

“How many?”

“Three.”

“Out of?”

“Seventeen.”

Dan started laughing, “Are you serious?”

“Don’t make fun of me, I’m desperate. Wrapping your presents is like therapy for my stressed out brain.”  
“I’ll help you out.” Dan said immediately. “It’s only fair.”

 

And that’s how they ended up next to each other on the sofa, a laptop between them and both a cup of steaming tea in their hand, with Dan uttering phrases like “hipsters love wooden necklaces” and “literally everyone loves a singing Santa”. 

They sat there for hours, eventually ordering pizza in and putting a blanket over their legs, until the presents for every member of Phil’s family had been ordered and paid for. 

“How could I ever thank you?” Phil asked when Dan finally closed the laptop and put it on the coffee table.

“You wrapped my presents, that’s more than I could ask for.” 

It had gotten dark around them as time had passed, but when Dan turned to face Phil the light coming from the kitchen was just bright enough to cast soft shadows onto his features. And before Dan realised what was going on they were kissing, hands roaming and presents forgotten about.


	5. Crafts

It had been one of those plans Phil was so excited about that Dan didn’t have the heart to turn him down, and now he was bearing the consequences of his niceness. They were sat at their dining room table with tons of Christmas themed crafts supplies scattered in front of them. The goal was to decorate the now empty green wreath with ribbons, baubles and spray-painted pinecones, but knowing them it would not be nearly as easy as that sounded. 

Phil had laid out some old newspapers to protect the table from the paint and Dan was sure they would need them. His predictions came true on the first pinecone, when Phil started out by spraying half the bottle on the papers instead of what was in his hand. Truth be told, the glittery red pinecone did end up looking festive as fuck.

Dan started by trying to make one of the ribbons into a bow to put at the top of the wreath, tying and untying it four times before he was satisfied and then having to figure out how the hell a glue gun was supposed to work. Phil was going to town on the pinecones in the meantime, spray-painting many more than would realistically even fit on the wreath, but he seemed to be having a great time so Dan didn’t say anything. 

Bit by bit their wreath started to take shape. The bow looked surprisingly good, the glittery red and gold pinecones looked festive and homely, and the baubles really finished the look. At this rate Phil would probably brand this a success and come up with more crafts projects for them to do, but Dan couldn’t say he minded. He’d never admit it, but he was actually having fun. He enjoyed gluing his fingers together trying to attach a bauble to a twig and watching Phil squint in concentration as he coated his seventh pinecone in a layer of shimmering gold paint. The Christmas music Phil had put on was putting him in a good mood and he felt warm inside; either from festiveness or love. Maybe both.

Phil wiped his brown, leaving a trail of glitter on his forehead and making Dan laugh. His boyfriend didn’t even notice, too caught up in his task, until Dan hung a bauble on his ear. 

“What are you doing?”

“You look like a Christmas ornament yourself now.”

Phil looked at his hands, which were covered in paint and glitter, and a devilish grin came onto his face.

“Give me a big kiss!” He raised his hands to put them on Dan’s cheeks, and the later jumped up, the chair toppling over behind him.

“Come on, you love me!”

“No! Get away from me.”

Dan stumbled away, but Phil got to his feet too, chasing Dan with arms outstretched. 

“The monster of Christmas Yet-to-Come is here to show you how loved you will be during future Christmases.”

“He can keep his love!” Dan dashed into the lounge, nearly tripping over some cables on the floor and as he was momentarily slowed down, Phil reached him and managed to put a hand in Dan’s neck, covering his skin in glitter.

Dan let out a dramatic high-pitched scream that Phil quickly broke off by pressing their lips together, planting both of his glittery hands resolutely on Dan’s cheeks.

The latter made one last attempt to save himself, but quickly realised it was no use and gave in, kissing his boyfriend back.

In the future he might not encourage Phil to start more crafts projects, but he wouldn’t protest either. He had to admit, they weren’t too bad.


	6. December Snow

London was an awfully rainy place.

December rarely brought snow, favouring cold winds and heavy showers instead. Dan could barely remember the last time he’d had a white Christmas. Last year the temperature had been above ten degrees on Christmas day, and Phil and he had joked that they should’ve gotten Christmas tank tops rather than Christmas jumpers.

However, that morning, just after ten, when Dan dragged himself out of the bedroom to get some cereal, he noticed through the window that the city was looking more white than usual. He squinted his eyes as he approached the glass, and quickly realised that not only were the grass and trees outside covered in a solid layer of snow, but little flakes were still coming down. 

“Phil?” He called. When he got no response, he turned and lightly jogged back to their room, “Phil?” He flicked the light switch and was greeted by his boyfriend’s groaning.

“You’re blinding me.” His croaky voice came from somewhere under the sheets.

“Phil, come here for a second.”

Another loud groan, but the covers were finally pulled back and a grumpy Phil appeared.

“It’s cold in here.”

Dan nodded absentmindedly, “Sure. Come with me.”

Phil followed Dan into the living room and raised his eyebrows when he realised what Dan was showing him. The moment he saw the snow his eyes lit up and he grabbed Dan’s hand. “Snow!” He exclaimed happily.

They stood there, hand in hand, watching the snowflakes flutter down and cover the back garden in a thick fluffy blanket, excitedly squeezing each other’s hands.

“It looks so pretty.” Dan said finally.

“Fresh snow is the best.” Phil agreed. “But it’s even better when you’re the first one to walk in the new snow and leave your footprints.”

They gave each other one look, and then they were both scrambling for their shoes. “I’m leaving the first footsteps!”

“No way, I said it first!”

Neither of them bothered to put on their coat before they dashed downstairs. They suddenly stopped at the door, hesitant to disturb the quiet peace from the scene in front of them.

“Together?” Phil offered Dan his hand, and the latter took it gladly.

On the count of three, they both stepped out into the snow, leaving their footprints in the first snow of that Winter. It crunched under their shoes as they took tentative steps further into the garden, creating a trail behind them to indicate exactly where they’d been.

It was cold, but neither of them really noticed. The moment was too magical; busy London seemed to have shut up for a while just to make the whole thing perfectly serene and festive. 

 

Even if they did not end up getting a white Christmas, no amount of rain could take this moment away from them.


	7. Elves

If you’re seventeen years old and Green Day is having a concert near you soon, sometimes you need to put your pride aside and do whatever you have to, to get tickets.

That’s what Dan kept telling himself while he put on a cheap elf costume that was already irritating his skin before he’d even done up all the buttons. 

It was only three weekends, six days, forty-eight hours, total, and it would make him 240 pounds. Which was almost worth the embarrassment. 

The door of the dressing room opened and another boy dashed inside, tossed his bag down and started undressing. When he hadn’t greeted him, even after an awkward full minute, Dan carefully said, “Hi.”

“Oh, hi.” The other boy said, now just in his underwear and rummaging through his backpack. 

“I’m Dan.”

The boy pulled out his suit, as green and ugly as Dan’s own. “I’m Phil.”

“So I guess we’re stuck here together for the next few weeks?”

“Guess so.” Phil finally paused to shoot Dan a grin, “First day and I’m already late.”

“No, you’re not. We have four more minutes.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god.” 

As Phil started to put on his suit at a slightly less outrageous speed than before, Dan sat down to put on the matching shoes; red with green trims and little golden bells that would tinkle every time they moved. “I fucking hope no one I know sees me in this.” He muttered to no one in particular.

“My mum promised she’d stop by and take a picture of me on my first day of work.”

“Give me a warning so I can be far out of shot.”

“Everyone’s going to be taking photos all day, you know?”

“People are coming here to take pictures with Santa, not with the elves.”

“But the line will be long and if they can get the elves they will take them.”

Dan groaned dramatically.

\--

Phil turned out to be right.

While the kids stood in line, their parents egged them on to ask Santa’s elves for pictures, so Dan ended up taking loads of pictures that day even though he had not planned on it and thus hadn’t really bothered with his appearance that morning. Phil seemed fine with it, smiling away. Dan would be alright too, if he looked like Phil.

Dan felt ridiculous in his dumb elf outfit, but for some reason the other boy could pull it off. In fact, he looked downright cute in it. 

He was playing his part, joking around with the children, and Dan couldn’t stop himself from looking over way too often and smiling at Phil’s genuine joy.

His mother did end up coming around. She took a picture of Phil, then one with him, and lastly she wanted one of Dan and Phil together. “With your co-elf, sweetie. It’ll be so cute.”

And so they huddled close, each put an arm around the other’s waist, and smiled for the picture. Phil kissed his mum goodbye and they went back to work.

The day went by surprisingly fast, between endless pictures, Phil’s jokes, and the never-ending supply of candy canes, Dan didn’t even get a chance to be bored. Every time he started to slow down, his co-worker was right there to pat him on the back, say something positive in that upbeat voice of his, and they would be right back at it.

The fact that Phil was a darn honour to look at probably helped too. This job wasn’t all bad.


	8. The Nutcracker Ballet

Under the guise of “cultural enrichment” Dan and Phil had decided to go see the Nutcracker ballet. Really, they just needed an excuse to spend the night watching people do complicated but gorgeous moves while making it seem effortless. Neither of them could even pretend like they would look as good doing those moves, limbs too long and bodies too awkward, but it was enjoyable to watch other people do them. 

They dressed up all fancy, Dan wearing an expensive shirt he’d been given by an award show and Phil had even put on a tie. The fact that they were holding hands as they entered the hall slightly lessened their professional appearances.

They got champagne at the bar and took their seats on the balcony, from where they had a good view of the stage that was still empty for now. Most of the people around them seemed serious, whispering to each other even though there was nothing to be quiet for, but in the row behind them there were a woman and three little girls, aged between six and ten, who were chattering away excitedly. They made Dan and Phil feel slightly less out of place, despite the fact that they were probably all out of place there.

When the curtains opened Phil put his hand over Dan’s and squeezed it softly. The whispering around them had died down as the music came on. One by one the dancers started entering the stage.

The entire atmosphere was magical, seemingly keeping every single person entranced for the full duration of the show. When the music ended and all the dancers stepped forward for the final bow the spell broke and a loud applause filled the room.

Dan couldn’t believe they had never gone to see the ballet before; not only was it the perfect way to get into the festive spirit in style, it was also completely gorgeous. As they walked out, still hand in hand, they felt weird and spaced out, the way you feel when you’ve just watched a movie that changed your life. They were walking on clouds.

Phil let go of Dan’s hand for a moment to try some of the moves from the performance, looking rather funny but in an endearing way. He got some strange looks from people around them but didn’t seem to notice, and with a smile on his face Dan joined in. 

They did pirouettes that made them topple over and pliés that made their hips hurt, they looked quite ridiculous, but the enchantment of the Ballet had not yet worn off and really, all seemed to be just perfect in that moment; the Christmas lights overhead, the giant tree on the square a hundred yards ahead, their cold faces and pink noses, everything was perfect and Christmas-y and _warm_.

Dan twirled Phil around until they were both too dizzy to keep going, and even then, when they finally walked home, they kept a skip in their step.


	9. A Christmas Proposal

Every time Dan and Phil went up North to visit Phil’s family, they’d make a trip to the Isle of Man. It was especially pretty around this time of year, with the vast ice-coloured ocean and cold winds. The island had become Dan’s definition of Christmas, he was so used to the tradition. He loved walking hand in hand with Phil without worrying about anyone seeing them; it was just the freezing cold and them, holding each other through their gloves. 

His boyfriend looked adorable with his hood pulled up as far as it would go, scarf covering his neck, and his face being the only bit of visible skin. His cheeks were rosy, his nose red, and his smile bright.

They walked along the cliffs, watching the sea and the hills around them, as they talked about Christmases with the Lesters in previous years. Like the time they spent the entirety of Christmas eve playing pool, or the time Phil and his brother had ended up giving each other the same present. 

Their hands swung happily between their bodies, their step light despite the many layers of clothing. There were moments that Dan wished he could live in forever and this was one of them. If he could stay here, with Phil, for the rest of his life, he’d be wholly content. 

When they reached the photo cliff, so named because for some reason they took all their artsy pictures of each other there, they stood still and stepped closer to the edge, admiring the view. The cold wind stung at their faces, but they had been out for so long they no longer felt it.

Dan watched the horizon, as far as he could see. He felt small and insignificant out here, between the mountains and the endless ocean, and for some reason that was the best feeling he could think of just then. Nothing really mattered in a world as large as this one; there was no pressure to perform in a universe that didn’t care either way.

“Dan?”

He was shaken from his thoughts by Phil’s voice and turned his head.

He found Phil on the floor, kneeling in the frozen grass, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“No.” Dan said, not even loud enough for Phil to hear over gusts of wind blowing around them.

“This is the third time we’ve come here, I think, and you know, third time’s the charm. I also think the time is right, I’m not just doing this to adhere to a popular saying.” He paused, squeezing Dan’s hand, as he looked to the ground for a second. “We both love Christmas and I know the Isle of Man feels like Christmas to you, so this was the only place that really felt perfect enough to do this. This question is very important to me so I wanted to make sure everything about it was right.”

Dan was biting his lip, forcing himself to at least keep the tears at bay until Phil had finished speaking.

“Dan, will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?”

“Yes, of course I will. God. Of course.” He pulled Phil to his feet and kissed him through their tears. “Fuck, I love you.”

“I love you too.” Phil pulled away a bit, revealing his tearstreaked face, and added, “You didn’t even give me the chance to get the ring out.”

“You got a ring?”

“Of course I got you a ring. How lousy do you think I am?” Phil reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a little dark blue box. In it was a simple golden ring with a fine pattern on the outside, and both their full names on the inside. Dan eagerly pulled off his glove and offered his hand.

“I had it engraved because I was pretty sure you’d say yes.”

Dan couldn’t help but laugh at that as Phil – his fiancé- slid the ring onto his finger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is late due to the fact that I wrote it two minutes ago. I got caught up watching A Christmas Prince with my mum so I'm sorry about that I guess ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	10. Meeting the Parents

December 23rd, 2009. Dan Howell was wearing his most casual formal clothing and had redone his hair three times that morning. It was his first time in Rossendale and additionally his first time meeting Phil’s family. Everything had to be perfect. They had been dating for a few months now; too short to spend Christmas together, but long enough to spend Christmas Eve Eve together. According to Phil, his mother was making an honorary Christmas dinner that night to celebrate Dan’s visit, which only made him feel more nervous. His boyfriend’s parents were clearly excited to meet him, and he was afraid he would not live up to their expectations.

The front door opened before they were even halfway up the driveway. 

“Dan!” A woman whom Dan recognised to be Phil’s mum stepped out with open arms. “It’s so good to meet you.” She pulled him into a hug, after which he offered her a box of chic Christmas chocolates. They’d been his own mum’s idea, and going by Kathryn’s reaction they had hit the spot. He mentally thanked his mother for her brilliance.

They stepped into the house, where they were greeted by Nigel who clapped Dan on the back, and Martyn who gave him a nod and a smile. The lounge was beautifully decorated, with a perfectly colour coordinated tree, candles on the dresser, and the fireplace lit. If there was ever a physical embodiment of Christmas it was this room.

On the other side of a breakfast bar was a kitchen where pots and pans were strewn all over the counter and stove. The Lesters’ Christmas Eve Eve dinner was more elaborate than the Howells’ Christmas dinner, Dan noted as Kathryn hurried back into the kitchen to tend to some potatoes. Her husband walked up behind her, putting a loving arm across her back and kissing her cheek. Dan smiled to himself; the exact future he envisioned for himself and Phil was unfolding right before his eyes, played out by his boyfriend’s parents. 

As if Phil knew what was going on in Dan’s mind, he took his hand and pulled him closer, “That’ll be us one day.”

Dan offered to help with the cooking, but Nigel waved him off, “You go do something Christmas-y. Kathryn and I will handle the food.”

Martyn’s girlfriend Cornelia arrived and suggested a game of charades, which Dan and Phil were surprisingly good at. They were tuned into each other perfectly and managed to beat Martyn and Cornelia by two points. 

By the end, Kathryn and Nigel had joined in and made a fair dash for the crown. Fortunately for Dan and Phil, dinner was ready before they could properly catch up with the front runners. The meal was the perfect Christmas dinner that Dan had only seen before in American films, and of course he ate way too much. Before he’d arrived he’d been afraid he wouldn’t be able to eat anything because of the nerves, but Phil’s family was so kind and welcoming that he didn’t once feel like they’d rather he wasn’t there. Kathryn kept offering him more poutine and he just kept eating until he physically couldn’t stomach any more.

This family was apparently out to keep surprising him, because after they’d cleared the table Kathryn directed them all towards the Christmas tree. “I got everyone a little something.” She announced. “It’s not much, but it’s all about the Christmas feeling.”

They sat around the tree and as Martyn passed around the presents Dan felt close to tears. He wanted to fit into this family. He wanted to become a part of it. He understood how Phil became how he was now: his family was as kind-hearted and loving as he was. 

His present was wrapped in shimmering silver paper with a golden bow on it. It was almost a shame he had to undo the bow and take off the wrapping paper. When he did, he found a big Christmas Yankee candle called ‘Christmas memories’. “Hopefully tonight will become a good Christmas memory for you to look back on.” Kathryn said.

“Thank you, it’s perfect.” Dan responded. Phil noticed he was choking back tears and squeezed his hand.

“I told you they’d make you feel welcome.” He whispered, kissing Dan’s cheek.

And they did. He felt more cherished than he ever had before.


	11. Christmas Eve

After a long day of filming for a segment on BBC Radio 1 Dan and Phil had to pick up their bags that they packed that morning and rush to the train station, instead of getting to relax. They had a three-and-a-half-hour journey ahead of them, crammed into a busy compartment with too many people, too much luggage, and too little oxygen.

But the train ride would be worth it, they kept telling each other, for their first Christmas spent together. Dan wasn’t going to go home until Boxing Day, meaning that after eight years together this would be their first shared Christmas. 

They managed to find two seats next to each other, opposite a couple of teenagers who were definitely not holding back on the PDA; it took ten minutes or so before they stopped kissing long enough for Phil to see their faces. He gave Dan’s hand a squeeze and they smiled at each other. They’d once been like that too, so caught up in one another that the world around them just fell away. But that was in the early years of their relationship. These days, they were practically married, and although they were as in love as they were back in 2009, they no longer felt the need to be all over each other all the time.

Next to him, Dan was reading a Neil Degrasse Tyson book, opposite him were the kissing teenagers, and Phil was utterly bored. He read some Stephen King for a while, but got bored after about an hour, so he went on Twitter, but also got bored of that quickly. The people around them were all quiet, engrossed in their own little activities, so Phil didn’t want to disturb them by speaking to Dan. He settled on a game on his phone, playing it until his eyes got tired.

Just as he put his phone down and was about to ask Dan if he wanted a snack, the train stopped abruptly. The passengers around them looked up in surprise, glancing outside to see if they’d arrived at a station. It was dark outside, but they were clearly in the middle of nowhere.

Some creaking was heard over the speaker, followed by, “Ladies and gentleman, we appear to have suffered a defect. Please remain seated while we work on the problem, thank you.”

People around them groaned. Dan put his book in his backpack and looked outside, “There’s snow, so obviously the English train system is in a panic.”

“It’ll probably be over soon.” Phil responded.

Even the kids in opposite them had stopped cuddling for a moment to see what was going on. A nervous chatter was growing quietly; as though people were afraid to say something that could bring a worse situation about.

When they hadn’t heard from the operator yet twenty minutes later the mood got agitated. Dan kept checking the time on his phone -it was nearing eleven- and Phil had already texted his parents that they would be at the train station later than planned.

Finally, at a quarter past eleven, the operator spoke up again. “Sorry for the wait, folks. We appear to be experiencing some trouble due to the snow. Mechanics are on their way and should be here soon. Thank you for your patience.”

“We’re spending Christmas Eve on a train.” Phil said.

“Forty-five more minutes and we’ll start Christmas Day on a train, too.”

“It’ll be fine. We can play I Spy. I’ll start.”

Dan groaned dramatically, “That’s even worse than spending Christmas Day on a train,” He said. But he still joined in.

-

They saw the mechanics arrive fifteen minutes later, bearing torches and operating tools and trotting through the snow to the front of the train. All throughout the compartment people got out of their seats to watch their saviours walk, hoping they would solve the problems and get them to their destination soon.

They were grossly disappointed though, as after they had disappeared out of sight nothing happened or changed. Time kept ticking by and at this point it seemed clear that they would be here a while. 

Dan tweeted that they were stuck on a train for the night and immediately the tweets started flooding in. At least he now had plenty to respond to and wouldn’t be bored for a few minutes. 

Shortly before midnight, it became quiet in the compartment. Everyone put their books, phones and newspapers down, and looked at each other expectantly, until one person started loudly counting down from ten.

Phil joined in right away, and halfway through Dan did too, a grin on his face.

When the countdown was over, everyone burst into shouts of “Merry Christmas”, shaking their neighbours’ hands and kissing their friends and family. The teenage couple definitely made us of it, kissing each other passionately as though they had not done enough of that yet over the past few hours. 

And that was when Phil decided that nothing else really mattered. If those teenagers were happy enough to spend Christmas on a train as long as they were together, surely he should be content to spend Christmas here as well. After all, the love of his life was with him, and really, that was all he needed.

He turned to his boyfriend and pulled him in for a kiss.


	12. Forever Home

The house was quiet and echoed with every footstep. From the backroom the soft ticking of the central heating system could be heard, working hard to fight the December cold. They had just said goodbye to their old apartment for the last time and had taken an Uber to their new house. Their forever home. 

The furniture wouldn’t be arriving for another two days and they only had a mattress and two sleeping bags, lying on the living room floor by the large windows. The sun shone brightly and illuminated the empty room. England hadn’t seen snow on Christmas in years and nothing about their surroundings gave away that the holiday had in fact crept up on them. 

“That corner would be perfect for the tree.” Dan said, pointing it out.

For a moment Phil wasn’t sure what he was talking about and racked his brain about which of their houseplants Dan might be calling a tree.

“We don’t have one.”

“But we can go get one. It’s not like we’ve got anything else to do.” He spread out his arms to make his point. He was right. Their consoles, computers and televisions would come with all the other furniture, and the only electronics they had were their phones and the laptops they’d brought with them in the Uber.

And so they went.

Phil wore one of Dan’s hats as he’d put his own in one of the many boxes that had disappeared into the moving truck and would likely not be unpacked for another month, knowing them. Their gloved hands found each other and their arms swung as they walked. Their breaths came out in clouds that hung before them for a few seconds before evaporating. Neither of them spoke, their mouths too cold to form the words they might have wanted to say.

The garden centre was only a five-minute walk away but when they passed through the doors the heat from the store hit them like a cosy blanket, instantly making them sweat in their four layers of clothing. 

The pine tree section was outside, unfortunately, where a guy with his scarf wrapped around his face so much he was barely recognisable offered his assistance. Neither Dan nor Phil really knew how high the ceiling was in their new place. Whereas in the old flat they’d tried to touch the ceiling just to see if they could plenty of times, they had never even looked at in the new house. 

“About this high maybe?” Phil waved his hand above his head noncommittally. 

Dan just shrugged. 

They decided on a tree that was about as tall as Dan himself, as they were sure he could definitely fit in the room, so the tree should too. Scarf Guy wrapped their tree in a net and lent them a cart, after which the journey home started.

Phil dragged the cart forward while Dan told him where to step as his sight was greatly impaired by the tree covering most of his face. When Phil almost fell flat on his face after tripping over a loose brick in the sidewalk they switched roles.

The walk to the shop had taken five minutes.

The walk back home took nearly twenty.

Their living room was on the same floor as the front door so they didn’t have to drag the tree up a flight of stairs like they’d had to in both their London apartments. This time getting the net off was the hardest task that Dan was pretty sure was going to lead to one of them moving out. By the time they finally had the tree up and in the corner Dan had pointed out, Phil suddenly realised something. “We don’t even have any decorations.”

Dan was quiet for a moment, looking at the tree as if he blamed it personally for their forgetfulness. 

“Fuck it, I’m going to make some hot chocolate and I am going to enjoy the hell out of this beautiful tree.”

When he came back from the kitchen with two steaming mugs (they’d brought all the essentials in the Uber: clothes, toiletries, laptops and hot chocolate) he found Phil sat on the floor, his back against the window, looking up at the tree.

Dan sat down opposite him and handed his boyfriend a mug. 

Silence once again fell over the house as its two new inhabitants sipped their hot chocolates and admired their bare tree.

Outside, small snowflakes tentatively started to flutter down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for Twelve Days of Phan! Thank you so much for reading, and Merry Christmas!! 


End file.
